Chapter 56
I Need My Own Man
Ten days had passed since the royal wedding concluded in great success.
“Romeo drank poison? Again?”
Daphne slammed a list of hotel supplies and contracts down on her desk. Misha, who had delivered the news, looked dumbfounded.
“They investigate the servants who carried the goblet, but they found nothing, and the Crown Prince is fine.”
Romeo Rodriguez, who had been touring the outlying neighborhoods of the Cecradion after the royal wedding, reportedly drank again.
“He deserves to die at least once, or at least be taken to the hospital.”
It seemed Romeo detected something off the moment the alcohol touched his lips, but rather than spitting it out in front of everyone, he discreetly swallowed it in one gulp.
‘What a lunatic.”
The story goes that Psyche immediately threw her drink away.
“I’m curious, if His Highness the Crown Prince had fallen like that, would the insurance have paid out?”
“I don’t know. Anyway…”
The male protagonist.
Thinking of his sleek black hair and golden eyes made Daphne shudder. Daphne clicked her tongue once, then picked up her pen again and scribbled her signature on the contract. It was a desperate document from a maid on the end of her rope, asking to rebrand hotel amenities.
“But what do you mean ‘again,’ my lady? Has His Highness the Crown Prince ever been poisoned besides this time?”
“That time…”
Daphne almost mentioned a recent incident but closed her mouth. Psyche’s party had been handled as discreetly as possible, and Misha wasn’t there to witness it.
“He’s the only son of the king, I suppose.”
Romeo had personally experienced hundreds, perhaps thousands, of poisons, a grim part of his upbringing.
Daphne briefly thought of Romeo’s mother, Aunt Rose.
The last time she’d seen her was at the Star Palace when she was fifteen. Her cheeks were thin and dry, and her eyes were sunken. However, her clear golden eyes were filled with madness.
‘She was the one who spearheaded poison training.’
Romeo had grown up with a severe overprotection that could only be called abuse, and yet he seemed to love Rose dearly. So much so that he shaved his head and volunteered to join the warring Livians as soon as she died.
‘What did I do wrong?’
Even Amber had involved Daphne in poison training, wanting her daughter to remain safe from all harm. Shaking her head, Daphne dismissed the memory.
“I drank a lot of poison from his cup when I was younger, and so did he.”
She brushed it off as a past event, and Misha, unfazed, narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice.
“But strangely, the social circles are paying attention to you because of this incident. Especially your colleagues from Veritas. They’re saying that people who saw you bring a traitor from Secradion to an uninvited state wedding are being influenced by him and are plotting a new rebellion.”
“That’s ridiculous. Do they think I’m some love-crazed lunatic willing to kill family over a man?”
“You were definitely upset because you couldn’t kill Lady Psyche, right?”
“I didn’t kill her in the end, though. And Psyche seemed to enjoy it.”
Misha rolled his eyes at her objectively ridiculous comment.
“Say something that makes sense.”
“I wonder who saw it.”
“You attract attention wherever you go, lady.”
“Am I that stunning?”
Ignoring her remark, Misha mumbled the next agenda item: suggestions for improving the hotel breakfast by hiring another chef, or even remodeling the lobby for the next season.
Daphne listened absentmindedly, lost in thought.
Celestian had only accompanied her to the wedding venue’s entrance, and there were only a couple of people they encountered along the way.
‘Did they see us on the deck? But weren’t there only foreigners there? The girls…’
Scratching her forehead with her thumbnail, Daphne immediately suspected the culprit behind the rumors.
‘It must be Elle.’
Elle had likely shared the facts without malice. However, her classmates were major figures who were obsessed with gossip magazines, and Daphne was a person of interest who appeared in the gossip magazines six out of ten times.
“… And did you hear about the sixth prince’s accident?”
When Daphne shook her head, Misha whispered the rumor that was circulating once again. That only the princess’s carriage returned to the empire after the state wedding. Rumors suggested she had renounced all her rights and naturalized within days.
“Was it an accident or assassination?”
“The latter, I’d say. My guess is the fourth prince and the princess worked together—‘clean up the trash, and I’ll grant you freedom.’ Something like that.”
Misha’s gray eyes sparkled and he sighed.
Daphne burst into laughter. She thought of Amber, who had been wrinkling her forehead ever since the state wedding. Was that it? She’d dropped everything for a whole week and gone on vacation to a resort.
Amber Green, the “original money-crazed villainess,” had gone to a place where she couldn’t see the money flowing into her pocket. Daphne could tell she was heartbroken.
‘Why does she keep needing… money? She has everything she needs.’
Daphne, who had been smiling cheerfully, soon lifted one corner of her mouth. At the same time, she shook the last sheet out of her hand. Resting her elbows on the desk and her chin on her hands, Daphne looked around her office. It was all green.
“I miss Celestian.”
Daphne murmured like a girl in love. Misha was horrified. Crossing his legs and fidgeting, his face turned pale.
“Lady, don’t put too much faith in… Grand Duke.”
“Why?”
Misha didn’t answer. Shrugging, Daphne chuckled at the streaks of gray in his hair.
“Isn’t it hot? Cut your hair. Maybe dye it. You can now.”
He scratched the back of his neck again without answering, then said the next thing.
“Today’s news is endless.”
“Well, the crown princess position has been filled. Thanks to that, not only the capital but also the outside is in an uproar. They’re even reopening the investigation into why Denver burned down.”
“That’s obviously Celestian.”
Wasn’t that common knowledge?
“Yes, well, I assumed as much from you, Lady. But everything’s oddly connected.”
Daphne tilted her head.
“Why dig up a three-year-old case now?”
“It’s a bit complicated with the Crown Princess. I think he’s trying to sort things out.”
Romeo wouldn’t have dug up old business to stir things up. So is it royal authority?
Daphne thought of the palace, with its blue carpets and sky-painted ceilings, and the many royals sitting huddled together on the platform like picture frames.
“When did they start caring so much about Psyche? What a headache…”
Three years ago, Denver’s disappearance in a fire had been a small story on page five of the kingdom’s morning newspaper. A single line, about a search for the culprit.
“Who could it be?”
Daphne tapped the gold pen on her desk. It was before she realized she was in a book. And it would have been too late to manipulate anything.
“Celestian Theriosa, I guess.”
Daphne took out a file from the bottom drawer of her desk.
Unfolding the neatly folded map of the kingdom, Daphne absentmindedly glanced at the northwest and quickly found the place name ‘Denver’. She hadn’t bothered to look it up, but it was unexpectedly familiar.
Daphne frowned and looked closely, then muttered.
“Wait, Denver and Tenzin are right next to each other?”
On the map, they looked like one region.
Misha froze, his hands halting mid-motion as he sorted documents. His gray eyes flicked back to the ceiling, and he reached out and pulled the map down from Daphne’s hand.
“Burn it.”
“The estate? Again?”
“No, the map.”
Misha ran one hand through his hair in horror.
“Ah~ Back then, our Misha was so cute.”
“Ugh.”
Ignoring his grimace, Daphne rested her chin in her hands, reminiscing about three years ago.
* * *
Back then, Daphne hadn’t yet realized she was inside a novel.
It was shortly after her godfather’s death, before meeting Celestian formally.
It was not long after she returned to her parents’ house. Daphne was relaxing, staring up at the ceiling, reading a romance novel, when she suddenly spoke to Narid, who was tidying up next to her.
“Narid, I’m a princess.”
“Of terror?”
“You’re dead. Anyway, princesses need knights, right?”
“Not chauffeurs, but sword-wielding knights?”
For a moment, Narid had a puzzled look on her face, as if to say, “What is my lady talking about again? But she quickly cleared his throat and nodded.
“The war is over, so there must be some soldiers who have nothing to do now.”
“Ugh, not soldiers with guns. It’s like Romeo, It has to be a swordsman who uses his body and sword.”
“How about asking Madam?”
“No, without my mom’s knowledge. I need my own man.”
Narid immediately understood what was being said and nodded. Narid, who had been rolling her gray eyes here and there, quickly disappeared outside the room and came back. Returning with the wind outside, Narid carried a shredded newspaper.
<Winner of the Continental Swordsmanship Tournament>
“What is this?”
“It’s one of the newspapers Count Serenade saved.”
Daphne wanted to ask why she had them. However, Narid, who loves cleaning so much that she dreams of becoming the president of a cleaning company, and spends her paychecks on sweets and cleaning supplies, Narid is just as nerdy as Daphne.
Therefore, Daphne didn’t bother asking. She just narrowed her eyes and stared intently at the torn newspaper. In the black-and-white photo, two men stood.
“Is this the winner?”
Daphne pointed to one side with her finger. Narid’s face leaned in closer.
TL/N: Hello! I will be working on this series from now on, and I plan to retranslate/fix the older chapters as well. However, it will take some time, so I kindly ask for your patience, thank you so much~
Aaaahhh thank you so much for picking this up!! 🥰